Towel-holder.



G. H. REIMER.

' TOWEL HOLDER. APPLICATION FILED JAN-31.1916- Patented July 17, 1917.

GEORGE H. REIMER, OF FULTON, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO PATENT NOVELTY COMPANY, OF FULTON, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

TOWEL-HOLDER.

asaaoc.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 17, 1217.

Application filed January 31, 1916. Serial No. 75,251.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. REIMER, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Fulton, Whiteside county, Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Towel-Holders, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to towel holders of that kind in which a ball is arranged to hold the towel in place against some other por tion of the device, the towel being released by slightly lifting theball.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved construction and arrangement whereby a towel holder of this kind can be constructed of sheet metal in a manner that will insure the requisite stiffness and rigidity thereof, and whereby the towel can be easily inserted and released from between the ball and the front surface of the bracket plate forming the back or body of the holder, as will hereafter more fully appear.

To this and other useful ends, my invention consists in matters hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is the front elevation of a towel holder embodying the principles of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on line 2-2 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on line 3-3 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 shows the sheet metal blank from which the guard is made which holds the ball in place.

Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of the structure shown in Fig. 1. v

As thus illustrated, my invention comprises a bracket plate A of sheet metal, provided with a marginal bead a to give it stiffness and rigidity, and to hold the central portion of the plate a slight distance away from the wall-surface on which the towel holder is secured. It will be understood that the upper portion of this bracket plate can be of any suitable form or shape, only the lower portion thereof, which embodies the operative portion of the towel holder, being shown in the drawings. The said bracket plate is provided with three slots 1, 2 and 3, arranged in the manner shown, and is also provided at its lower corners with a pair of holes 5 for the screws or nails by which the towel holder is secured to the wall. A round bead 6 surrounds each of said openings, and a bead 7 extends upwardly from one opening, curves around and above the slot 1, and then extends downwardly to the other open ing, whereby this head has an inverted U- shape when the towel holder is viewed from the front. The ball B is movable up and down on the front surface of the said plate A, and is held in place by the guard C, whereby a towel may be inserted between the said ball and plate and held in place by the wedging action when the ball moves downward. This guard is preferably constructed from sheet metal, being formed from a blank having an upper portion 8,

side portions 9, and a tongue or lower portion 10, said blank being substantially of the form and shape shown in Fig. A. The sheet metal blank thus provided is bent into the shape shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, so that the guard has an inclined front wall 11 which causes the ball to be forced or wedged and lugs 15 at their lower corners, which lugs are inserted in the slots 2 and 3, and then bent or clenched on the back of the bracket plate. The upper portion 8 of the blank is bent and curved in such a manner that its edges meet the edges of the portions 9, thereby forming parallel seams 16 at the top of the guard. The lug 17 is in tegral with the portion 8 and is inserted through the slot 1 and then bent or clenched on the back of the bracket plate. The wall 11 is bent toward the bracket plate at its lower end, to provide a rigid or non-flexible lip 18 which prevents the ball from being displaced from the lower end of the guard, it being understood, however, that the angle of the wall 11 is preferably such that the said ball reaches the limit of its downward surface of the bracket plate. In Fig. 2, the

said towel X is shown clamped in position between the ball and the bracket plate. The sides 12 make the guard channel-shape in cross-section, as shown in Fig. 3, and while a considerable portion of these sides is cut away to provide space 14,, as previously explained, still the channel-like formation extends practically from top to bottom of said guard and serves thereby to make the latter very stiff and rigid. The side walls 12 and top wall 8 cooperate to brace the guard against outward displacement away from the bracket plate. In this way, the wedging action of the ball will not force the guard outward and away from the bracket plate, as might be the case if the said guard had some considerable or necessary flexibility. The wall 11 can have any desired angle, but is preferably inclined outward at its upper end, so that the upper portion of the guard extends outward and overhangs the lower portion thereof to a considerable extent.

In operation, the towel is inserted edgewise behind the ball B, from below, and the ball is then allowed to move downward and force the towel against the bracket plate, so that a downward pull on the towel serves only to clamp it more tightly in place, as this increases the wedging action. To release the towel, it is only necessary to raise the ball and then pull the towel out.

l/Vith this construction, both the bracketplate A and the sheet-metal guard O are practically rigid and unyielding, notwithstanding the fact that the ball B tends to wedge the two sheet-metal elements apart when it moves downward. Of course, the sheet-metal may afford some slight general resiliency or flexibility, but the result is practically a rigid and non-flexible guard which is opposed by a rigid and non-flexible bracket-plate, notwithstanding that the entire structure is made of thin sheet metal, Consequently, the guard is not provided with any flexible portions, and no portion of the channel in which the ball travels is parallel with the opposing surface of the bracket-plate. The ball can be thrown upward. into the enlargement of this channel inthe hollow head or upper portion of the guard and as it travels upward the distance increases between the ball and the face of the bracket-plate. Thus, a very thick piece of cloth or several thicknesses of the towel can be inserted between the ball and the bracket-plate, and the position of the ball or its distance above the lower end of the guard will depend upon the total thickness of the cloth or towel. By enlarging the upper end of the space between the bracket and the depending portion of the guard, the towel can be lifted upward quite a distance to free it from the grip of the ball.

Thus, the bracket-plate A, which is substantially wider and longer than the front jaw C, has the rear jaw outlined thereon by the head 7 or other suitable line of swaging, so that a considerable area is left outside of the rear jaw, and whereby the bracket-plate is prevented from buckling under the powerful leverage exerted by the front jaw, when the ball is forced downward between the two aws, it being observed that at such time the front jaw fulcrums at the upper end thereof and has a tendency to pull the sheet1netal of the bracket-plate outward at the lower points of attachment and 3), in a manner that will be readily uiul-erstood. As the two jaws are not parallel, it follows that each jaw extends downward at an angle to the other jaw, thus forming a wedge-like space between the two jaws in which the ball wedges tight as it moves downward. The swaging of the bracket-plate serves, however, as stated, to outline the rear jaw on the sheet-metal, and to stiffen the latter sufficiently to elfectively resist buckling of the bracket-plate and relative separation of the two jaws when the ball is forced downward.

hat I claim as my invention is 1. A towel holder comprising a protruding member and a bracket plate providing front and rear stiffened jaws of sheet-inetal, means to rigidly connect together the upper portions of said jaws, so that the two jaws in their entirety are substantially unyieldingly opposed to each other, one of said jaws having a longitudinal. groove which extends downward at an angle toward the other jaw, and a ball movable downward by gravity in the groove and thereby adapted to be forced by the angle of this jaw directly against the other jaw, said rear jaw being outlined on the face of the b ticket-plate by swaging extending adjacent said means and downward therefrom, leaving an area outside of the swaging, and said member having a hollow head integral with said front jaw, said head being formed with top and side walls having the edges thereof secured by said means to the rear jaw inside of said outline thereof to prevent buckling of the bracket-plate by the lever action of the front jaw when the ball is forced downward, and so that the towel may be clamped directly between said ball and a sheet-metal jaw by the pressure of sheet-metal on the other side of the ball.

2. The said towel-holder (substantially as set forth in claim 1), said groove being formed in said front jaw, and said rear jaw presenting a flat surface to said ball.

Signed by me at Fulton, Illinois, this 1!- day of January 1916.

GEO. H. REIMER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

